Officials at the club confirmed that a forest department team had conducted an inspection on Friday at Delhi Golf Club

A team of the Delhi Forest Department inspected the Delhi Golf Club premises on Friday after a complaint was filed by two members alleging that close to 100 trees were cut two years ago without taking mandatory permissions from the department. According to the complainant, who requested anonymity, the club decided to expand the Peacock course two years ago and felled trees to make space for it without taking requisite permissions.

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“The administration cut the trees and chopped them into smaller logs. They then dug pits and buried them. No one could see what was happening as the area was inaccessible because of the expansion,” said the complainant, a long-time member of the club.
The complaint was filed on July 10. The department is yet to prepare a report after the inspection, sources said.

Officials at the club confirmed that a forest department team had conducted an inspection on Friday. But they denied the allegations. “The club is 85 years old and many trees as old or older than it. These old trees fall during storms. The allegations are motivated. We have chopped the trees that fell into smaller pieces and kept the wood inside the club itself,” claimed a source.

Any tree that falls is supposed to be reported to the forest department so that wood is collected by them and sent to cremation grounds.
“We usually inform the department but sometimes, due to the paucity of time, we forget,” the official said. Sources at the club confirmed that they had sought permission to fell some trees for expansion plans, but permission was denied.